I have not posted in a very long time. I just really haven't had anything to say and because of many things (money being one of them) I haven't been collecting at all.

I have recently joined a forum for owners and fanatics of guinea pigs (yes, go ahead and laugh!). Well, I posted some interesting things about how one of my piggies got injured (to educate others so their piggies don't get injured).

Well, I was completely jumped on, called names, and belittled. I have not posted since, but I have been reading that forum and realized it wasn't special treatment just for me! Everyone (mainly the new people, no matter how well they take care of their animals or whatever) is jumped on and belittled and called names.

It is really horrible over there (if anyone wants the web address, my e-mail is in my profile, e-mail me). I can't believe that these people (and the 2 biggest "meanies" are the 2 main moderators) who call themselves adults and who are "in control" of the boards act like this (and the "owner" of the board is just as bad).

It's completely appalling. (God forbid you purchase a guinea pig in the petstore rather than rescuing them! I believe in rescue, but come on, it's not a reason to freak out about!).

Anyway, the whole point of my post is this - some of you may think that people have gotten really ignorant or mean (especially with the latest arguments about Inkworks and Razor) but really, this board is GOLD!

The moderators treat you with respect, and from what I see most everyone treats others with respect. There is very little flaming (compared to this other forum).

So, I just want to say, THANK YOU! for providing a place on the internet that you can actually discuss things with others, considering that internet + anonymity = crazy mean flaming people!

And a big THANK YOU to Harris for keeping this forum respectful, interesting, and fun!

Thank you very much Jessica!!! I really appreciate you taking the time to post this and for your shout out.

Sorry to hear about your experience on the other board. That sounds like a horrible place.

quote:

Originally posted by Jessica:

Well, I was completely jumped on, called names, and belittled.

I get that all the time here.

Actually you are quite right, some people think this board gets out of hand sometimes but compared to some of the boards out there it is like gold and very well behaved.

We all know how vicious those Guinea Pig people can be.

What a silly post...
No, only joking! I know what you mean Jessica, I've seen much the same thing on other boards and I can't quite understand why!
Au Res.,
Paul

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
I get that all the time here.

That's 'cuz you're a Ham-ster. Or a Gimmee Pig.

I always wondered how the guinea pigs ever got together with the guinea hens.

Jessica is 100% right about how good of a crowd is here on Cardtalk. You notice it and appreciate it more and more when you go to other sites! Or at least I do!

I have been reading that site alot, I don't know why I torture myself, I guess I am so mad at being so disrespected.

Someone yesterday posted something regarding vet care or something or other. Of course, they were put down, blah blah blah. That person tried to maturely defend herself.

So, I was like, what the heck? Let's try to get me banned! So, I replied a few posts just saying how it is (in a maturely adult manner though).

They pounced on me, I haven't responded back yet, still thinking on how I want to say what I want to say, you know?

Also, you guys might find this funny - in the FAQ there is a question - "How do I delete my account/user name?" Well, you can't. They do not delete accounts. If you are not happy there, they say just leave.

Here's my reasoning for it. They like to "boast" their "numbers". They love to say, well if this site was so bad, how come we have over 5,000 members? Um, well, because you DON'T DELETE ACCOUNTS! (hence my reason for wanting to be banned, I don't want to add to their numbers)

But, and this is hilarious, I did find a post from the owner of the list (who is just as bad as the moderators) stating that of their 5,000 members that almost 25% of the members are "active" and that they are very good numbers. SERIOUSLY? 25%? Out of 5,000 people, I don't consider those good numbers. And it was a recent post too.

Anyways, I just find it funny that they refuse to delete accounts so they can boast big numbers and they admit that those numbers are poopy but claim they are wonderful!

Harris, do you know how many members we have here? How many are active? I'll bet around 75 - 80% easy. I think that guinea pig cages website is a joke and pathetic.

Ok, enough ranting from me!!!!

Hi Jessica:

Well, after reading what you wrote, I hate to say it but I must say we have lots of inactive posters around here too. Our front page shows how many registered users we have (shows 3396 right now).

I don't prune user accounts for a couple of reasons. One is laziness. Secondly, though, we often get members who come back after quite a while of inactivity. Take a look at "xst" as an example. I just noticed a post of hers the other day and it seemed like the first in a while. She used to post all the time. I just checked and it was her first post after 2 1/2 YEARS of no posts!

Anyway, I hope we're not at at similar to the other site. They sound pretty horrid. We don't brag about how many members we have or how many active ones we have (admitedly, it's a small percentage of the 3400 -- nothing even worth bragging about).